Bander-in-charge:
Marcel Gahbauer
Assistant: Shawn Craik
Notes: Three
times this week we planned to put up the nets for a banding session, but
each time the temperature was several degrees colder than forecast and
we decided to err on the side of caution. However, at least some
interesting observations were made during our visits. The Rusty
Blackbird was back on Sunday, singing at length, and demonstrating a
surprising boldness in going to the mixed seed feeder while we were
standing only a few metres away. A bit later the same morning, we
noticed that the Common Redpoll flock now numbers 28, and were impressed
to see 12 of them hanging on the nyjer feeder at once. Also of
note, a banded Red-breasted Nuthatch was seen near the feeders, likely
the same individual banded during the early part of the 2005 Fall
Migration Monitoring Program and seen sporadically since then.
With milder temperatures forecast over the next week, we hope to be able
to report on the first banding efforts of 2006 in next week's report.
